A Princess Cruiser on Carnival - Comparisons

We recently took a Carnival cruise to celebrate my husband’s 65th birthday. A little about us - We are Platinum cruisers on Princess and had not been on a Carnival cruise for 20 years. We have taken 8 cruises in the last 3 years since my husband retired. I am 60 and we will cruise a lot more once I retire. We are young at heart and love to have fun. We are active on our roll calls and love to make new friends.

The last Carnival cruise we were on was in 1996 and was a 4 day booze cruise out of Port Canaveral and afterwards we said, “Never AGAIN!” On our last 2 Princess cruises we met friends who really like Carnival and it intrigued us to maybe give it one more chance. I could not find a Princess cruise that I really liked for his birthday on Princess and so I chose the Carnival cruise as it went to some ports we had never been to before and the price was ridiculously cheap. This was a 12 day repositioning cruise on the Carnival Freedom. We brought her from Ft. Lauderdale to Galveston, TX. Being Texans, we could drive to Galveston and only buy airline tickets to Ft. Lauderdale. This made the travel really cheap. This cruise was purchased after final payment and they were filling the boat! I mean REALLY cheap – I bought out cruises on Black Friday (inside guarantees) and including tax and port fees we only paid $38 per day. I could not pass it up and Jerry was game too! Like I told him, it beat snow and ice in TX for 12 days if nothing else!

Our airfare was on Southwest and I used Chase Sapphire points to buy our tickets which were $133 each one way. I also got the bright idea of renting a car at Houston Hobby to use as our shuttle to the airport from Galveston. I booked a midsized car on Hotwire for $21.73 taxes, fees and everything. On our drive to Galveston we picked it up at the Avis lot, just a mile off of the interstate and we returned it the next morning and they took us right to our gate. Thanks to whoever suggested it on our roll call – I will do this again as it worked out perfect! We stayed at Gaido’s Seaside Inn and we have stayed there before. They are like family they are so friendly! Cheap too - $70 and we parked our car for free for the 13 days in their chained fence lot.

Our flight to Ft. Lauderdale was perfect. Both flights were early and we got in 45 minutes early. Our luggage came right out (God bless Southwest!) and I called our hotel. We stayed at a hotel in Ft. Lauderdale we had never stayed before, but got good reviews on Trip Advisor. Since we booked so late and it was high season, many hotels were already full. Our room came with shuttles from the airport and to the Cruiseport, so I decided to try them out. I called them and told them we had our bags and were ready to be picked up. She told me right where to go wait and within 10 minutes of getting to the waiting place, their shuttle drove up with a nice sized trailer for the luggage.( I almost bought lottery tickets that night as we had 2 early airline flights, no lost luggage and then our shuttle arrived so quickly.) We stayed at the Rodeway Inn & Suites Cruiseport, 2440 West State Road 84, Ft. Lauderdale. This place runs like a well-oiled machine and the manager must have been a drill sergeant in the Marines before he bought the hotel. He is totally hands on and must never sleep. The lobby had 4 well defined lines to check in at and fed from one waiting line which was quite long every time a shuttle brought people in from the airport. We got our room key, signed up for the 10:30 shuttle and got our free breakfast coupons. The room was clean and they had a nice pool area to enjoy a drink by. I had packed our wine, but they had a shuttle for $5 that was going to the grocery store to pick up last minute stuff for people who needed it. We ordered a pizza from a local well rated restaurant and enjoyed it in our room and watched the Super Bowl that night. Our room included free breakfast and it was what you would expect for a free breakfast. Jerry liked the make yourself waffles. I would stay here again!

The owner was announcing where to be for our 10:30 shuttle at 10:15 and we left at 10:30. Like I said, it is a well-oiled machine and he keeps it running smoothly! It was raining a little, but not enough to worry about. By the time we made it to the port it had quit. We were very close to the port and once our bus driver had a place to stop we were off with our luggage and in line to do the pre-check with Carnival at 11:00.

Check In & Boarding – Tie

Both Carnival and Princess know how to move you thru the pre-check process quickly. Even though we had not bought faster to the fun and were a lowly Red card with Carnival, we still moved quickly thru the process. Once thru the pre-board process were given a Group 3 card and I decided to time how quickly each group got on. At 11:45 they took the weddings and those that had special boarding privileges. At 12:10, they announced that Faster to the Fun could board. At 12:55 they called group 3 to board. So in my eyes, FTTF for $50 is a huge waste of money. They boarded 35 minutes faster than I did and they were letting everyone take their carry on luggage to their room when we boarded. Your mileage may vary, but all in all – very organized and quick to board.

The Room - Winner Princess

We are not picky about our rooms, for us it is a place to sleep, shower and change clothes. We do not languish on the balcony and really covet the size of the room, more than a balcony. I chose a guarantee inside and we were assigned Room 1226 (F category) on the Riviera deck. Oh my, was this a small room and was not laid out well at all. Probably our least favorite room of any cruise we have been on. The bed took up 80% of the room and had teeny tiny bedside tables that were useless. We had it in the Queen bed configuration and there was a small desk right in front of it with a tiny flat screen television. Back to the useless bedside tables - The lamp was welded into the center and there was no room around it to put anything. I had to unplug mine so I would have a plug in for my CPap machine. The storage was in the hallway and the hallway was so narrow you could barely turn around. These closets did a fine job of holding our clothes, but were in a bad spot as it was the only way into the room and was right where the bathroom was also. The décor was a garish burnt orange and anyone that knows me understands that burnt orange is my least favorite color in the world – Boomer Sooner! And it wasn’t just that it was burnt orange – it was a REALLY ugly décor with strange paintings on the wall that looked like a 2 year old had painted with finger paints. They were disturbing! But we do not spend much time in the room and it did not scar me for life! LOL

The Bedding – TIE

We had a really comfortable bed that needed no egg crate. The pillows were all in great shape too. Our last 2 Princess cruises had great bedding too, so I am going to keep this one a tie.

The Bathroom – Winner Carnival

Whoever laid out the bathrooms on a Carnival was a woman I am sure. There was room for all of my toiletries on glass shelves. There also was a nice mirror on a scissor swivel that was great for last minute touch ups. The shower was bigger than Princess too and every inch counts! They have the same crappy shampoo and body gel that Princess does. One small circle of soap in the shower; we brought our own- bring yours too!

Towels and Bathrobes – Winner Carnival

The towels we got in our room on Carnival were always the best quality! On our last Princess cruise on the Royal they were worse than the $5 towels at Walmart and were all raggedy and frayed. The beach towels were a higher quality on Carnival too – but there is a caveat. On Carnival you have to keep track of your beach towel! Lose it and you are out $24!!!! Not sure I enjoyed dragging that wet towel with me all over the place, but we did not lose them. On Princess, you can get beach towels at the pool and drop them when you are leaving. They are an OK quality and I prefer to not be held hostage for a towel! Their bathrobes are also a much better quality on Carnival! I actually enjoyed using the one in our room; the ones on Princess are a disgrace!

Life Boat Drill – Princess

Seems weird to go stand outside in rows on Carnival, I felt like we were in grade school. On Princess you go to a lounge or show room and they are very thorough. We did not even have to bring our life jackets to the drill on Carnival. I had ours in hand and was told to go put them away. On Princess you MUST attend – they scan your card -- they really did not seem to keep track on Carnival. Was kind of surprising to me with all the bad press the cruise lines are getting, I would think this would be more important.

Casino – Tie

This is a huge money maker for cruise lines and both know it! I was impressed that Carnival gives you a free drink card after you have racked up 1500 points at the slot machines. We played a lot of 3 card poker at the tables and were bought drinks several times by the pit boss. Several couples we knew got free cruise letters the last day of the cruise. We were both winning and did not get one, but if you are a slot player they do reward you for the money you spend at the machine.

Buffet Food – Tie

We never went hungry at the buffet. You could always find something to eat that was fresh and tasty. Carnival includes the Guys Burgers, Blue Iguana, Mongolian Wok and Fish and Chips. I tried them all and they were all good. I do like Princess Fish and Chips much better than Carnivals. The fries at Guys were inedible, but the fries from the Fish and Chips were always hot and good. Blue Iguana had great tacos for lunch and I loved the salsa bar.

Desserts – Princess

I am not sure how Carnival could take the taste out of 95% of their desserts – it should be impossible to make that many lousy desserts, but they did accomplish it on this cruise. They would look great and have absolutely NO taste or not be the right temperature. And this was over all including the dining room and the buffet. The only dessert that was consistently good was the molten lava cake. We actually had warm cheesecake in the dining room --- geesh! We actually laughed about it with our tablemates --- we would say - -- “Surely they cannot mess up XYZ.” And they would! It saved me a lot of calories as I just quit ordering them in the dining room and did not get any in the buffet. Even the cookies were awful. They need to send some of their chefs over to Princess for a week to learn how to make desserts and ice cream too! Princess makes all their ice cream from scratch and it is amazing!!

Dining Room Food – Princess

Carnival did a good job on their dining room food, but it just was not the same quality of food as we have on a Princess cruise. The cuts of meat are not as nice and the choices are more varied on Princess. They had a great flat iron steak that was on the everyday menu and I chose it when nothing else looked good. The food was well seasoned and for the most part tasted good, it just was not gourmet food and definitely not gourmet quality. We also NEVER had the maître d visit our table in the first 11 nights – he did walk thru on the 12th night just in case we might want to tip him. On Princess ours came by every night and seemed genuinely engaged and cared about our dining experience.

Dining Room atmosphere – Princess

If I could change one thing at Carnival it would be the humiliating dancing that the wait staff is forced to do each night. You can look at their faces and see they are embarrassed. It also affects the timing of the meal when they have to stop to do this each night. A lot of people left as soon as it starts each night. Carnival – please stop this!!!

Dress --- There were a lot of shorts and jeans in the dining room every night except for elegant night. Frankly, I don’t care and Jerry even wore them a couple of times. It is a much more relaxed atmosphere at Carnival and it is OK. Elegant night – only about 20% wore even a dress suit. It is definitely much more dressed up on Princess and I am not saying that is good or bad – it is just an observation.

Steak House – Princess

We went for Jerry’s 65th birthday with another couple. I had made the reservations ahead of time and noted that it was his birthday. When we were seated they brought out flutes of champagne and recognized him with a toast. The atmosphere is nice in the steak house on Carnival, but not quite as elegant as Princess and is the same price.

We were surprised that you are limited to one choice of entrée. On Princess you can order a steak and the lobster – no problems. When we asked they said you had to choose one or the other. That was fine as their rib-eye was 18 ounces and Jerry ordered it and I ordered the lobster. We then shared them both. Just seemed weird and like kindergarten to be cutting up steak and sharing at the table. The escargot is just awful on Carnival in the steakhouse (we had it in the dining room and it was good). We had been warned that it was served in a puff pastry, but I had to try it anyway --- take my advice and order something else. The side items we ordered were not very good also. I ordered creamed spinach and got exactly one tablespoonful. I am not exaggerating – I could have put all of it in a tablespoon measure. It was good – but come on – a tablespoon? The mushrooms were crispy/dry. It was really weird as I have never had crispy mushrooms that were totally dried out that were not fried. The baked potato was fine and the steak and lobster were both very good. The focaccia rolls they brought out were one of the best things I ate the entire cruise – that good ---with wonderful tapenade spreads for them.

They brought out a small round cheesecake with a candle and the servers sang happy birthday to Jerry. It was a very nice touch and we appreciated it. We also had a chocolate medley that was good, not great as a dessert.

Show Room Entertainment – Tie

We saw the following Production shows in the Victoriana Lounge: 80’s Pop to the Max, Heart of Soul, 88 Keys and Getaway Island. They were all very good and we really enjoyed them. They had a great group of dancers and the lead singers were very strong and talented. I am very critical of singers and these passed my test! We had experienced the new shorter shows on Princess on our last 2 cruises, so we were used to the new style without a band and with the heavy reliance of technology. We also saw a juggler and we skipped the hypnotist as we just cannot stand them. We really enjoyed the comedians on Carnival and enjoyed the Punchliner showroom way of having family comedy first and adult comedy later. The only issue we had was finding a seat – which is also an issue with Princess. One person goes early and saves the entire row. Makes it very hard if you are not traveling in a pack with these people!

Daytime Entertainment overall – CARNIVAL

Carnival does a really good job of having lots to do on a cruise. I really have to give this one to Carnival as they pack the day tightly with lots to do! I enjoyed sea day mornings doing what they called Splash Dance – water aerobics for the hardy as the water was COLD!!!!!! And I will rate this later - but I HATE the salt water in the pools on Carnival! Over all – we could always find something fun to do. There is trivia almost hourly. I really think they should have better prizes than the dumb ship on a stick and cheap champagne. Princes does have better trinkets for prizes. We really enjoyed all the musical trivia’s that we attended and Jen, the cruise director made them so much fun with the sing alongs too! I did miss the movies that Princess shows during the day in the theatre – that was a huge minus for Carnival. We watched a lot of movies on our last cruise. We are not MUTS people – so did not try it on Carnival either. We did try the popcorn and Princess wins there too!

Pool – Princess

Salt water – I HATE IT!! And I did not know if it would make a huge difference and to me it did. I swam almost every day. The pools are small and were crowded- I cannot imagine what it would be like with kids on board. We only had about 50 kids on this cruise and they were well behaved.

OVERALL – we really enjoyed our time on Carnival and would do it again with a few caveats. We would never take shorter than a 7 day cruise. We would never go when school was out. We would only go if the price was really cheap or if we were going with a group. I do think the overall vibe of a Carnival cruise is more FUN. People seem more relaxed and ready to party. We met some really nice people on this cruise that will probably be life-long friends and we will cruise with them again. A cruise is a lot of what you make it and we went to have a good time. I hope you have enjoyed my thoughts and you may totally disagree with me, but this is my two cents worth and I promised to write this for several people. We both came home sick with an upper respiratory infection after the cruise and it has taken me a while to get better. I hope you have enjoyed it and might help you decide if Carnival might work for you as a Princess cruiser! Any questions, just ask!

Thanks for the time to tell us about your cruise! Sounds like you got your money's worth! :D

LuLu

I very much enjoyed reading this comparison. You gave an unbiased assessment. We mostly cruise Carnival, but we also are platinum on Princess. One thing I disagree with is the room comparison. Our rooms on Princess have always been very small, but I agree that Carnival's interior rooms are small as well. Perhaps it's the ships we've been on; I will say that our room on the Ruby Princess was very nice. I also hate the bathrobes on Princess but love the pools!

anyone that knows me understands that burnt orange is my least favorite color in the world – Boomer Sooner!

LOL! I have a Sister in Law who would agree with you. She lives and works in Austin of all places.

Thanks for the comparison between the two lines. If Princess keeps sailing from Houston or Galveston we'd like to cruise with them eventually.

Totally agree about the desserts. I think Carnival is trying to drive those with a sweet tooth to the desserts you can buy at the cafes on the promenades.

Thanks for the time to tell us about your cruise! Sounds like you got your money's worth! :D

LuLu

Yes I don't see very many Princess cruises that are $38.00/pp a night. :/

Thanks for the review. Did you do any shore excursions?

Yes I don't see very many Princess cruises that are $38.00/pp a night. :/

Nor are there many Carnival cruises on a good ship (not a 20 year old) for $38/person.

Princess was actually less than Carnival for our Alaskan cruise last year and they offered so much more than Carnival did.

Thanks to the OP for an accurate comparision. I've been on Princess twice, to Alaska and Italy, Greece and Croatia, and I haven't been in one of their pools nor theater yet.

Are the inside cabins on Princess larger than on Carnival?

Agree about the closet situation on Carnival. I wish all cruiselines had the open closets like Princess. I usually don't even get dessert on Carnival. When we went on Princess I could not get enough of their desserts, especially their cheesecake!!

Great review! Thank you!

Are the inside cabins on Princess larger than on Carnival?

They are just layed out better on Princess. IMHO.

They are just layed out better on Princess. IMHO.

Thanks, Sillyjilly.

Nor are there many Carnival cruises on a good ship (not a 20 year old) for $38/person.

 

Princess was actually less than Carnival for our Alaskan cruise last year and they offered so much more than Carnival did.

 

Thanks to the OP for an accurate comparision. I've been on Princess twice, to Alaska and Italy, Greece and Croatia, and I haven't been in one of their pools nor theater yet.

Excuse me the one in the review was 38/pp.

I very much enjoyed reading this comparison. You gave an unbiased assessment. We mostly cruise Carnival, but we also are platinum on Princess. One thing I disagree with is the room comparison. Our rooms on Princess have always been very small, but I agree that Carnival's interior rooms are small as well. Perhaps it's the ships we've been on; I will say that our room on the Ruby Princess was very nice. I also hate the bathrobes on Princess but love the pools!

I have to agree about the room sizes. While I've never been on the Freedom, only Fascination and Miracle, I can't imagine any cabin being smaller than the ones on Princess.

We've been on the Caribbean Princess and the Ruby, and have just about written Princess off due to the tiny cabins and horrible bathrooms. In fact, you have to go up to a mini-suite on Princess to even get a small sofa, which is standard on so many other lines. We've had a sofa on insides on HAL, in oceanviews on Carnival, and in every standard balcony cabin on RCCL, Celebrity, HAL and Carnival.

We were in an inside on the Ruby in November and my husband nearly killed himself trying to get to the bathroom at night. Between the bunkbeds that stuck out from the wall a good foot (closed, mind you), to the small table that blocked the path, he had to stay bent over and hold to the side of the bed to get out.

He said he never wants to sail on Princess again, and they just about gave us that cruise!

Out of curiosity, I just checked and a standard interior cabin on the Ruby is 159', an oceanview on the Ruby is 158', and a 1A interior on the Freedom is 160'. However, a standard interior on the Freedom is 185'. I'm guessing you must have gotten a 1A.

Hahaha. " the humiliating dance" for that reason ( believe it or not!) I don't go to the MDR. Just hate that stupid dance. If they do it once or twice during the cruise ok, but everyday is simple boring.

How did you get back to the hotel to pick up your car? So you stayed for one night and were able to park it at the hotel until your cruise was done? If you were leaving from Galveston, how would you have gotten to port?

Excuse me the one in the review was 38/pp.

Excuse me, it was a special price for a repositioning cruise. The OP even said it was after final payment. Good for her that she found it!

I said there aren't many Carnival ships available for that price, it's usually the 20 year old ones if at all.

Absolutely nothing to argue about. We can both wish we can find similar pricing on any line, and if we do, and if life circumstances permit, we'll try to book that price. Happy sailing!

On the newer Carnival ships , The muster drill is not done outside , You go to the theater , or dining room or various clubs , depends on where your room is ,as to where muster is held . I have sailed on Princess , not much to do after 10 PM. We sailed the Caribbean Princess , I walked around one night about 11 PM taking pictures ,you would have thought I was the only one on the ship ! Main lobby and atrium completely empty in my pictures.

As a Princess cruiser (38 cruises with them), I tried Carnival Miracle this past week. It was 15 years since my last Carnival cruise.

We always book a balcony with Princess so did the same with Carnival.

Carnival cabin had it over Princess. Princess cabins don't have a sofa

and The Miracle had a huge full size sofa. The cabin seemed much more roomy, bathroom and shower larger, and plenty of storage for clothes and personal items.We did buy The Faster To The Fun pass and it was totally worth the $49.00(for all members in same cabin one charge).

Boarding started late and there was a huge crowd waiting to board. We were so happy we had the pass and boarded right after the Diamond and Platinums. Now with that pass your room will be ready so we went direct there, and dropped off our luggage. Now I know for a fact most cabins weren't ready as we passed the opened doors with room stewards still working .The few times we needed to speak to someone at Pursers desk, we had our own line and never was there anyone in front of us although there was a line with others waiting.

Tender service, again, no need for waiting or ticket. And we were the first group to leave the ship yesterday.(because we had the Pass).

The buffet layout much better on Carnival, wide opened and several stations with different foods. Princess, on most of their ships (except their newer two), have a very small closed in area for the buffet.

Food however, was much better on Princess. And Princess' Pizza is much superior.

Entertainment was comparable but I understand Carnival Miracle, going to drydock next week, will eliminate the live Orchestra for shows and reduce the singers and dancers to a total of 8.

We had a fabulous time, and even with differences and things the same, won't hesitate to cruise Carnival again .

It's always interesting to see things though the eyes of others. :)

LuLu

How did you get back to the hotel to pick up your car? So you stayed for one night and were able to park it at the hotel until your cruise was done? If you were leaving from Galveston, how would you have gotten to port?

It was a repositioning cruise and we ended up in Galveston. We walked off with our luggage and took a cab to Gaidos to get our car parked for the 12 days in their lot! $10 cab ride

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They are just layed out better on Princess. IMHO.

I should have made that clearer. Princess cabins are laid out much better than Carnival in my opinion. We do not need sofas or balconies to be happy. Just give me a decent layout where 2 adults can both be up at the same time and not bump into each other!

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Out of curiosity, I just checked and a standard interior cabin on the Ruby is 159', an oceanview on the Ruby is 158', and a 1A interior on the Freedom is 160'. However, a standard interior on the Freedom is 185'. I'm guessing you must have gotten a 1A.

OP said she was in cabin 1226 F category. Not sure what the F stands for but according to CCL's website 1226 is a cat 4A so it should have been 185 sq ft.

You haven't seen small until you book an inside on the Majesty of the Seas and get a whopping 114 sq ft.

Bill

Thanks for your review. Fellow Princess cruiser here and hopefully, eventually will cruise Carnival as well. We also sail in inside cabins, so thanks for the heads-up on that. I think the one thing I will probably miss the most will be Alfredo's Pizza from Princess. After that, I am open to most things Carnival. I could do without waiters singing though. Just saying...

They are just layed out better on Princess. IMHO.

But they have that awkward coffee table. Usually gets put into the closet as there's no other place for it.